I use facebook, and am very pleased to see Mike giving out information on his musical plans and asking questions. However what I love about a forum like tb.net (quiet as it is at the moment) is the feeling of freedom to voice criticism (constructive criticism please ) which I don't feel free to do on the MO facebook pages.

For example, and to bring this thread back on topic, I am a mixture of excited and nervous about the forthcoming album. Concept sounds great, similar to the idea that ended up leading to Amarok! List of instruments sounds good. But little or no collaboration? My feeling is that many of Mikes best works have been aided by the collaboration with producers, engineers or musicians.

Maybe this new album will be the new exception and be awesome anyway Can only wait and see!

--------------"I say I say I say I say, what's got three bottles and five eyes and no legs and two wheels"

Indeed, not everyone or everything is on Facebook. Facebook serves a purpose for quick information and emoting stuff that you can never find again. Well, I can't, anyway. It does not lend itself to deep or continuing conversation. We have 143K "likes" on the tubular.net FB page. If you read the threads here and over there, do you find a difference? (I do.)

FB seems to be Mike's social media of choice, but that doesn't make other places in cyberspace--including this one--irrelevant. It's one component among the growing number of social media options. Some prefer Twitter or Snapchat. Options are nice and they all have their place. As others have said, beyond the forums, t.net brings together articles, discography, lyrics, tabs, etc.

A community has developed here over the years, which FB isn't going to replace. Sometimes it's a bit sleepy 'round here, but that is the ebbing and flowing of the cyber sea, eh? Heh...perhaps forums are like the song of the humpback whale-- you can pick up a conversation thread where you left off a long time ago!

Oh yeah--and what Matt said about constructive criticism--there is freedom here to express one's feelings and respectfully debate or disagree!

And to Return to Topic (if not to Ommadawn)..... the jury is out for me. What I loved about the original Omm is the organic-ness of it and the role of the Herefordshire-area musicians such as Les Penning in helping him to grow it. I wonder if Return to Ommadawn will leave me thinking that it's really true.....one cannot go home/back again. For me, a "Return" might have been working with some island musicians...... but....we shall see. I wouldn't mind being dazzled and amazed.

Well, Amarok turned out pretty well. I dunno, it seems that he makes his best work when he's trying to prove a point; Ommadawn because he felt Hergest Ridge was underdone and got not-so-great reviews (I dunno about that, considering he pulled that out of nowhere after putting everything into TB, it remains one of my favourites, and it seems he considers it with greater regard these days as well), Amarok because of the handmade mission statement and also to cock a snook at Virgin I guess.

Having said that, there's also a certain freedom in that he can pretty much do what he wants now, from the sounds of it he just started on something and it grew from there, so it's probably going to have the spontaneity, but the two predecessors are a tough act to follow, but I don't know that's the sort of pressure that'll produce the sort of record we're hoping for, but really, he's still interested in knocking out new stuff (for varying amounts of "new") so that's a win anyway.